Uncle Sam loans $1.5B to reignite Michigan nuclear plant in 2025

The Biden administration has announced plans to reignite a shuttered Michigan nuclear power plant with a $1.5 billion loan that, combined with other nuclear announcements yesterday, suggests the US federal government is right now all in on nuclear energy.

The 800-megawatt Holtec Palisades plant, located on Michigan's southwest coast in a relatively low-populated area, shut down in 2022 due in part to cheaper energy prices caused by fossil fuels, it's said. Once the station is brought back online sometime in the fourth quarter of 2025, said the US Department of Energy (DoE), it'll be the first time a retired nuclear power plant in the country has been restarted. Licensing approval still needs to be granted following upgrades at the site, and power purchase agreements (PPAs) have already been signed to keep the plant running until 2051. 

Those PPAs aren't happening by accident, either: Along with the $1.5 billion loan to Holtec International to upgrade and restart Palisades, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced yesterday it had awarded $1.3 billion in grants to the Wolverine Power Cooperative and Hoosier Energy, located in Michigan and Indiana, respectively, to fund the purchase of power generated by Palisades and other clean energy sources. 

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